THE SCOOP: TUESDAY, JULY 30

Jennifer says Serena's not dominant
Mary's bad eyes
Alexandra's tearful collapse

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE ACURA CLASSIC IN SAN DIEGO – After overpowering U.S. teen phenom Ashley Harkleroad 6-0, 6-4 in the second round of the $750,000 Acura Classic at the La Costa Resort and Spa Tuesday, Jennifer Capriati said she's eager to win titles again and again refused to concede that No. 1 Serena Williams is a dominant player.

Despite the fact that Serena has won five tiles this year (including Roland Garros and Wimbledon), has beaten her three times this year and is 36-3 this season, Capriati won't give her her props as the tour's out and out superior performer.

"I don't think so," Capriati said. "Everyone has a good run and she's on a hot streak. But my matches against her have been so close. You have to win everything to be dominant, like Martina Hingis once did. Serena hasn't. It's hard for me to call Serena dominant when I feel like I should have won every match against her."

After losing a classic three-setter in the French Open semifinal to Serena and then falling in straight sets to Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon, reigning Australian Open champ Capriati took a week off and then hit the practice courts. The muscular 26-year-old – who hasn't won a title since going back to back in Melbourne in January – said she's itching to reestablish herself.

"I didn't play too badly in those two losses, but there are definitely things I can do better," said Capriati. "I needed some time off to improve my fitness and recover. I could be a little quicker and more aggressive. I want to win again. It's been a while."

Against Harkleroad, Capriati easily controlled the center of the court. But against Serena this year, Capriati has found herself sucking wind in the third sets. "I still have the variety and execution, there's just are certain things on the mental side I need to improve on," said Capriati. "In the close matches against elite players, I need to close it out better and be more aggressive. I could also work on that by winning my early round matches with an exclamation point."

In taking down the 17-year-old Harkleroad, Capriati was devastating, overpowering her smaller foe with huge blasts into the corner and gobbling Harkleroad's second serves.

"She started out hitting winners from everywhere," said Harkleroad, the '02 Roland Garros junior finalist. "I guess when you are ranked number three and have three Grand Slam titles, that's what you do."

But make no mistake about it – Ashley can play and dug herself into the second set. She won the Los Gatos Challenger a few weeks back and if she gets a little stronger and follows the advice of her new coach, Jose Luis Clerc, she should reach the top 50 by this time next year.

Mary's bad eyes

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Former Aussie and French champ Mary Pierce is struggling in her comeback. Bothered by poor eye sight and an aggressive opponent, she was upset by German Great Arn, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round here. Pierce has been having problems seeing at the night over the past month and attempted to see a doctor on Monday morning, but was unable to get an appointment. She requested not to play at night but given that she was the only popular unseeded player scheduled to play on Monday, the tournament director decided to have her play the night feature match anyway.

"I really couldn't pick up the ball," said Pierce, who had LASIK surgery on her eyes in 2000 and 2001 to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism. "I play much better when I can see and I had a really hard time judging the ball at night. Plus, I was moving a little slow. … I understand that it's an honor to play the night match, but I haven't played a night match in a couple years and I'm just not seeing well enough at night to play well."

Pierce was off the tour for most of last year with a back injury. The 27-year-old –who reached a career high ranking of No. 3 in 2000 – is disappointed with how her comeback is going. Currently ranked No. 50, the Frenchwoman needed a wild card to get into the Acura and has only reached a quarterfinal once this year, at the French Open. Moreover, she is moving at a glacial pace and those who recall her glory years know that it was Pierce's ability to get herself into tiptop shape that fueled her success. She's never been a great mover to begin with and without her maximum speed, she has trouble hanging in points. That's the case right now.

"Its going very slowly and it's frustrating," said Pierce, who just parted ways with her coach. Bobby Banck, and has hired Renee Gomez on a trial basis. "I'm not in the shape I need to be and I'm not executing my shots. I'm moving at about 60 percent of what I once was. I expected there to be a lot of hard work, but it's a lot harder than I thought."

Pierce said that she hopes to regain her top-10 form by year's end but said it may not happen. "Personally, I think I can, but maybe it's not realistic," she said. "I just expected to come back and get my form right back and it didn't' happen. Maybe I had the wrong mentality and I should have been thinking that it would take more time, but by nature I'm an impatient person and I'm really hard on myself."

Alexandra's tearful collapse

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

How bad did Alexandra Stevenson look in her 6-0 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Anna Kournikova Tuesday night? As bad as she ever has and certainly the worst since she clawed her way into the top 30.

Give Kournikova credit for playing a clean, efficient, smart contests, but Alexandra couldn't keep a ball east of the Pacific Ocean off the ground, was extremely slow, served erratically and without thought, backed off on her returns and never really fought like a heavyweight.

In a lopsided contest that saw the 47th-ranked Kournikova completely control the center of the court and make silly putty of Stevenson's huge first serve. Kournikova ran off nine straight games before being broken to 3-1 in the second set. She then regained her composure and ran over her foe, powering groundstrokes down the line, caressing deft volleys and winning the contest with a heavy inside-out forehand winner.

Playing in front of a sold out home crowd of 6,500 fans, San Diego native Stevenson was devastated by the defeat, breaking down in tears afterward.

"My pride was really hurt tonight," said the '99 Wimbledon semifinalist. "I like to put on a good show and to lose badly like that hurts. The crowd was there for me and I couldn't perform."

Anna noted how everyone knows how powerful Alexandra is, but if you can get into her service games and start to move her around, "her shots fall apart."

Where Alexandra is headed is anyone's guess. She lost in the first round of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and now has lost in the first round of both Palo Alto and San Diego on hard courts. She said that she's lost her "mojo" and couldn't figure out how to get back into the match. She said she needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out what she's doing and why she's losing early.

What Alexandra needs is a full-time tennis coach: not her mother, Samantha, masquerading as her coach; not Pete Fisher talking to her on the phone from his jail cell of a house in L.A; and not the USTA's Ray Ruffles coaching her part-time. If Alexandra wants to hire Ruffles away from the USTA, then she should do so. Part time isn't good enough for a player who is having a full-blown crisis. Alexandra's inability to think through tough spots in matches and her incredible lack of confidence now is about to send her spiraling back to the pack of pretenders.